Generally described, some computing device, such as servers, may support hardware dynamic partitioning (DP) capabilities which allow users to hot-add and hot-replace various hardware devices on the computing device. For example, when a server allows a processor hot-add capability, several processors can be added to the server without requiring the server to be shut down. Similarly, when the server allows a memory hot-replace capability, several memories can be replaced with memories used by the server without requiring the server to be shut down. Such hardware DP capabilities are very useful when replacing of defective components or expanding (scaling) server capabilities without requiring shutting down the server is critical.
Hardware DP capabilities have typically required specially designed hardware running with highly specialized basic input/output system (BIOS) code in conjunction with the Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) standard. Generally, the ACPI specification defines the ACPI interfaces, including the interface between the operating system software, the hardware, and the BIOS software that can be utilized to support dynamic configuration of hardware (specially designed to be hot-plugged) hot-added and/or hot-replaced during runtime. However, current approach to provide DP capabilities can be prohibitively expensive. Additionally, the specialized BIOS may not be available for some type of computer devices, such as personal computers. Thus, testing of software and hardware designed to utilize dynamic DP capabilities relies use of prohibitively expensive computer systems. Additionally, users are currently limited to the expensive computing systems for scenarios requiring hardware DP capabilities.